This is a request for a Continuation Application of prior application Ser. No. 11/048,905 (Confirmation No. 9544) filed Feb. 3, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,309, issued Jun. 10, 2008, of Gianfranco INNOCENTI; Pietro PERLO; Cosimo CARVIGNESE; Luca LIOTTI; Roberto FINIZIO; Piermario REPETTO; Daniele PULLINI; and Marco PIZZI entitled INNOVATIVE ARCHITECTURES FOR SYSTEMS FOR GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY ON BOARD MOTOR VEHICLES. The entire disclosure of the prior application, application Ser. No. 11/048,905 is considered part of the disclosure of the accompanying continuation application and is hereby incorporated by reference.
The subject of the present invention, is in general, innovative architecture for systems of generating and distributing energy on board motor vehicles.
More specifically, the invention relates to a system for generation and distribution of energy on board a motor vehicle provided with                a propulsion unit,        at least one fuel tank,        at least one distribution network or line for electrical energy,        means for generation of electrical energy connected to the said at least one distribution network or line; and        a plurality of selectively activatable electrical consumer devices or apparatus, connected or connectable to the said at least one distribution network or line.        
The architecture of the system most currently used in the automobile field for generation of mechanical and electrical energy envisages the use of a propulsion unit, typically an internal combustion engine, with an associated electrical starter motor, an electricity generator driven to rotate by the propulsion unit, and at least one accumulator battery, typically of the lead-acid type. The on-board electrical consumer devices and apparatus, such as, for example, the engine control system, the lighting installation, the ABS system etc, are supplied with electrical energy rendered available by the generator and/or the accumulator battery.
In this architecture the electricity generator, typically a three-phase alternator with associated bridge rectifier circuit, is driven to rotate by the propulsion unit. This creates problems in that this arrangement does not easily allow optimisation of the control and management strategies for operation of the propulsion unit for the purpose of reducing fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants, a decoupling of the function of the propulsion unit from that of the electrical apparatus or devices being, on the other hand desirable for this purpose. This problem is more important if it is considered that in the future a significant increase in the demand for electrical power on board vehicles from the current 2-3 kw to levels of the order of 10 kw are envisaged.